Scuba World Diving Club

The dive boat anchors beside the Zurziep Reef in about 6m of water. There is a platform of rock at the base of the cliff, only 5m underwater. There is also a series of gullys running between the reef and the cliff face which make an ideal spot to explore during your safety stop at the end of the dive.

This area is rarely fished and shoals of bream are found here as well as large numbers of amberjacks, parrot fish, wrasse, damsel fish, bogue, picarel and sand smelt.

This dive site also has plenty of shallow caverns in which you will be sure to find cardinalfish (Apogon imberis) and various species of anemone such as the stunning fireworks anemone (Cerianthus membranaceus).

Cardinal fish are well known to divers who visit the Mediterranean and are instantly recognisable. The fish are an overall reddish – orange colour with a distinctive dark line that stretches from the snout all the way back to the gill covers. The eyes of the cardinal fish have two parallel white lines which break up the dark patch.

Location of Site:
North West of Santa Marija Tunnel to the large natural arch

Average Depth: 7 metres

Maximum Depth: 30 metres

The Dive:
These caves are located on the North West coast of Comino, close to Santa Marija Bay and one can find a series of interconnecting grottos and tunnels and abundant sea life. It is also a very popular site for fish feeding such as Saddled Bream, two banded bream and chromis but please remember if you take with you food to feed the fish in a plastic bag , please take it back up !!! The Santa Marija Caves lie adjacent to each other within an inlet (8-12 metres). The inlet is host to a large number of friendly sea breams (kahli) that are used to being fed by divers and will swarm on any tasty morsel offered. To navigate the caves it is a good idea to start with the left-most cave within the inlet.

This cave, which is connected to the adjacent grotto on the right, does not otherwise lead to any other exit but the sandy bottom rises almost to the surface. While in this cave it is always possible to surface as it is semi-submerged. Once out of the first cave, either through the entrance or the side passage on the right and out of the grotto, the next cave, also semi submerged up to an extent, leads to a number of interconnecting passages all ultimately leading out to the open sea. For land-based adventurers it is worth noting that the part of the cave lying above the water surface may be reached through a passage leading down from the rocks above. Once the passages are explored and the open sea is reached, the area to the left of the exits may be explored (max depth approx 20 metres) prior to returning to the boat, either through the caves or by circumnavigating the inlet.

The Dive:
This site is not easily accessible as a diver has to walk a long way down to get to the entry point. One must be very careful when walking down as with the weight of the equipment being carried one may easily lose one’s balance and suffer an injury. Also to climb back up after the dive is quite an affair to tackle. One can find vertical walls, ledges, caves and caverns with a large number of wrasse, parrotfish, chromis and smelt, the algae shelters various marine life such as fireworms, tube worms, hermit crabs, starfish and shrimps

Wreck Statistics:
Hellespont had a bollard pull of 10 tons with a 1250 IHP and a compliment of 17 men. The wreck lies at a depth of 41 metres off Grand Harbour. First discovered by a team of divers on 15 May 1999.

Wreck History:
Hellespont was built by Earle Shipbuilding Co. and was launched on 10 May 1910. She was based at Haulbowline Dockyard, Queenstown in Ireland until 1922. She came to Malta in 1922 and was subsequently damaged by Italian aircraft on 7 September 1940 and was never repaired but laid up at Sheer Bastion (Macina). She was sunk on the 6th April 1942. It looks like the bow (15 metres or so of it was destroyed & missing from the wreck). After the war she was lifted by camels and dumped off the Grand Harbour.

The Dive:
This dive consists of a vertical wall leading into huge boulders with large patches of Posidonia. Keep the wall to your right to reach a vertical slash in the limestone with a shallow cave. In this cave the floor has large peacock worms, burrowing anemones, cardinal fish, bream and chromis, but you won’t be able to spot big fish

The beauty about the Cirkewwa dive site is that it encompasses a number of different types of dives all at one site and potentially within a single dive. Two wrecks, the tugboat Rozi and the patrol boat P29, lie nicely upright on the sand tens of metres apart. Cirkewwa, at the northest part of Malta, is the berthing place of the Gozo ferry, and attracts hundreds of local and foreign divers all year round. The sea life is incredible with barracudas, moray eels, octopus, squid, amberjacks and sea breams. When you dive the tugboat Rozi, if you are good on consumption, you can go through the Arch on the adjacent reef, as well as, visit the Madonna before returning to prepare for ascent. The P29 dive is a beautiful dive in its own right where divers can additionally visit the Coral Garden and enjoy the sea life like garnau fish, groupers, common stigrays, scorpion fish and weever fish hiding along the sand.Continue reading »

The MV Karwela is probably the most dived wreck around Gozo. More interesting than the MV Xlendi and closer to shore and larger than the MV Cominoland, she has some open passageways and swim throughs. The wreck is now fully populated with an overall coating of algae and marine invertebrates, and the sea firs along the rails are a popular feeding ground for nudibranchs. The largely calm deep water around the wreck also encourages the growth of some very large spiral tube worms (Spirographis spallanzani). Normally dived from the shore, she is a short swim strait out from the entry point. Her bows rest in 39 metres with the deck at 33 metres. Shortly after sinking, a VW car adorned with graffiti and pink carpet wheel arches was also sunk onto the wreck, but all that remains now is a collapsed chassis down on the starboard deck by the stern. Continue reading »

The Dive:
Ras IL-Hobz is a single pinnacle which rises vertically out of the seabed just 12m off the headland. As it nears its summit at 11m the rock splits into two and you can usually find lobsters, slipper lobsters and octopus in the fissure. The rock is covered in algae growth dotted with spiral tubeworms. Schools of chromis bogue and smelt are found all around the rock, preyed upon by painted comber.Continue reading »

Two of Malta’s latest wrecks, Karwela and Comino Land, were scuttled very near us at at Ix-Xatt l-Ahmar, Gozo during August 2006. The ex ferry boats have provided new artificial reefs for divers. We have already made several trips to these wrecks with our diving boats, as they are already very popular with our clients, having had lots of publicity in diving magazines and forums. Air-filled buoyancy tanks, were used during the scuttling to ensure the ships remained upright at 35 metres below the sea. The photos which follow were taken by our Dutch clients, BJ and Nathalie t’ Jong. The VW Beetle is on the deck of the Karwela. Some people just have to park, right at the dive site!Continue reading »

HMS Hellenspont, also known as the Paddle Steamer, was a steam-powered tug brought to Malta in 1922. It was originally sunk in the harbour in an aircraft attack in April 1942. At the end of World War II, as the harbour was being cleared, it was lifted and dumped off Rinella, where she now lies.

With a maximum depth of around 42 metres and a minimum depth of 35 metres, this dive site should only be attempted by advanced divers with deep-diving experience. It is an ideal dive for entry-level technical divers. The wreck lies on a rocky bottom and there is not much natural light. There is significant damage to the front part of the wreck, but the back is still relatively intact and you can still see a lot of details including the large boilers, the remains of where the paddles used to be, the rudder and ammunition lying on the seafloor. The wreck and surrounding rocks are also home to moray eels and many types of fish including damsel fish, bream and painted comber.